Maui

In Polynesian mythology, Maui was a powerful
trickster
god best known for creating the Pacific islands. A son of the god
Tangaroa and a woman, he performed many deeds to improve the lives of
humans, such as making the sky higher and the day longer. Endowed with
magical powers, this small but exceedingly strong god and
culture hero
tried but did not succeed in achieving
immortality.

Maui created the islands while out on a fishing trip with his brothers.
First he fashioned a magic fishing hook from his grandmother's jawbone.
Then, as his brothers looked on, Maui cast the hook into the water and
began to pull up from the ocean floor the islands on which the Polynesians
now live.

On another occasion Maui was out walking and came upon a girl who
complained that the sky was so low it kept falling on her and preventing
her from doing her chores. Eager to impress the girl, Maui pushed hard and
succeeded in raising the sky

In order to give people more hours of daylight to tend their gardens, cook
their food, and make cloth, Maui made the days longer. With the help of
his brothers, he caught the sun in a net and beat it with his
grandmother's magic jawbone. The sun was so bruised and bloodied by this
battering that from that time on it could only limp slowly across the sky.

trickster
mischievous figure appearing in various forms in the folktales and
mythology of many different peoples

culture hero
mythical figure who gives people the tools of civilization, such as
language and fire

immortality
ability to live forever

Maui tried to become immortal by tricking Hina, the goddess of death, as
she lay sleeping. He crawled into her body and tried to pass through it,
but the goddess was awakened by the call of a bird and promptly crushed
Maui to death.